


One year later...

by Xenia



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 09:37:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenia/pseuds/Xenia
Summary: "Time of death 11:59" That was a year ago. But where are Oliver and Laurel today?





	

**Author's Note:**

> I live in Italy. And a year ago I set my alarm at 2:00 am, I woke up and I switched on my computer. I knew what it was going to happen, I'd know for a long time no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that it wasn't really going to happen. So I woke up and watched the episode because I wanted to live it with the rest of the fandom, I wanted to have the illusion of not being alone in my pain. I really didn't want the next morning and be left alone in front of a screen where Laurel was dying. And I know it's stupid, I know that even at 2:00 am in the dark of my room I was alone, but it didn't feel like I was, because I knew that other people all over the world were watching the same scene and feeling the same emotions.  
> I started planning this story a while ago, because I wanted to remember this day and pay my respect to Laurel.  
> Then the news came that Katie would be a regular in Arrow as Black Siren and then Laurel in LoT and I saw the scene and heard what she said.  
> I never really thought that she would ever come back, but this two thing were the last unnecessary nails on her grave. Just new salt on our wounds.  
> When I started writing this... well it was meant to be sad. I was meant to show Oliver remember his good moments with Laurel in the anniversary of her death. For once in my post 4x18 stories I wanted to respect canon. And then that happened and that story turned in this one.  
> Because our fandom doesn't need any more tears and any more pain. We deserve an happy ending for our Laurel and since the show is so dead set on not only not give it to us, but also keeps rubbing salt in our wounds... Well thankfully there are fanfiction to give happy endings where there's none.  
> So this is me, giving Laurel and the fandom the happy ending we deserve, that she deserves, in the day of her death.

“ That’s why you have to promise me something” Laurel was saying and then all the monitors started beeping together and Laurel wasn’t breathing anymore.  
Doctors rushed in the room and Oliver was pushed away from Laurel’s bed.  
He watched the doctors moving around and barely noticed when Thea stepped closer to him. He only had eyes for Laurel and how pale she was and the only thing he could hear was the beep of her heart monitor.  
He watched the doctors shock her, he watched her body arch on the gurney.  
And then:  
\- Time of death 11:59 –  
Time of death.  
Death. Death Death.  
The word kept resonating in his head.  
Death. Death Death.  
He barely noticed Thea breaking down in his arms.  
He couldn’t stop looking at Laurel’s lifeless body.  
Laurel was dead. The strongest, most generous, most beautiful woman he knew was gone.  
His Laurel was gone.  
He would never see her eyes lit up when she smiled.  
He would never hear her laugh again.  
He had never imagined his life without Laurel. She was his rock, his constant.  
His Laurel was death and the world stopped and then started moving again.  
But it was all wrong.  
It was all wrong because Laurel was dead and nothing made sense anymore.  
He stumbled out of the room and collapsed against the wall.  
His Laurel was gone and he didn’t want to be alive anymore. 

It was late when Oliver came back from patrol. The night had been uneventful. He had walked around the city bored out of his mind. The only thing he wanted was to go home to his wife.  
It had taken them a long and difficult journey to get together, but Oliver had always known that she was the one, his soulmate. He had never given up and finally finally he had convinced her to accept his marriage proposal. And now they’d been married for three years and they were happy. He’d never been happier in his whole life.  
He walked in the living room and she was there asleep on the couch. He always told her to not wait him up, to go to bed, but she never did it. When he came home from his patrol he always saw her blond hair sticking out from the couch.  
He kneeled in front of her and put a hand on her swollen belly. He couldn’t wait to meet their baby. He leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.  
\- Felicity, sweetheart wake up. – 

Oliver jolted awake.  
His heart was beating fast and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.  
He was alone in the bed, so he sat up. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm down and then he stood up and walked to the window. He looked at the lights of the city for a while and then rested his forehead against the glass. The coolness soothed his nerves a bit and he thought about how much his life had changed in the last year. 

A year ago on this day he was carrying Laurel’s bleeding body to the hospital. He would never forget the paralyzing terror he had felt on his way from Iron Height to the hospital. Listening to Laurel’s labored breath had been pure agony.  
But the worst part of it hadn’t been the rush of the hospital or the long wait while she was in surgery. The worst part had been the conversation they had when she was brought in her room, after the surgery. He could still hear her words in his head.  
\- I'm really glad that you found Felicity, and I hope you find your way back to her, and, Ollie, I know that I am not the love of your life... But you will always be the love of mine… -  
Hearing her said those words had shattered his world.  
He couldn’t believe that she still thought of him as the love of her life. He had hurt her so much that he was sure he’d blown any chance he had to be with her.  
Cheating on her with Sara was just the tip of the iceberg of all the wounds he had inflicted her. Leaving her to face Tommy’s death alone and refusing to train her after Sara’s death were probably the worst things he’d done.  
He had never been there for her, never really supported her choices. And yet she still thought of him as the love of her life.  
But what really broke his heart was hearing her say that she thought she wasn’t the love of his life and that she was glad that he found Felicity.  
Because for all those years he always thought that Laurel knew, that she knew how important she was for him, that she knew that she was his everything, that she was more important to him than anyone else in the world.  
He thought she knew that he couldn’t imagine his life without her. He thought she knew that Felicity was just a consolation prize.  
He thought she knew that he was with Felicity only because he believed that he couldn’t have her, that he didn’t deserve her.  
He thought that she knew him well enough to see right through him and know all these things, but he was wrong.  
He was about to tell her that she was the love of his life and he wanted her in his life anyway she wanted to be. And then… and then she had stopped breathing and doctors had flown in the room and pushed him far away from her bed. And then… 

The door of the bedroom opened.  
\- Ollie what are you doing up? – Laurel said walking in and joining him in front of the window.  
He turned to look at her. She had always been his light and she shone brighter than the city below them, brighter than the sun. She had lead him home from the island, she had supported him when he first took the mantle of the Arrow even without knowing who he was, she had always believed in him. After Tommy’s death she had really believed that together they could change the city. And he had disappointed her once again. But she had never stopped believing in him.  
\- Nothing. I was waiting for you. – He said.  
Laurel smiled, her soft, beautiful smile. The one he thought he would never see again.  
\- I know you, Ollie. – She said stepping closer and hugging him. – I know what day is today. –  
Oliver hugged her tight, kissing her hair and breathing in the scent of her shampoo.  
\- Today it’s the day I almost lost you. – He said.  
\- I know Ollie. – She said tightening her grip. – But you didn’t. And we found our way back to each other. –  
Oliver didn’t realize that he was crying until Laurel reached up with her hand and gently wiped the tears away from his cheek.  
\- It’s okay Ollie. It’s okay. I’m here. –  
He leaned down to kiss her.  
\- I almost lost you. I almost lost everything. – He said. – God Laurel I almost lost you. -  
She didn’t say anything.  
\- It was the worst day of my life. Every year I will remember how close I’ve been to loosing you, loosing this life and this happiness before I could even have them. – He kept going, his voice breaking in the end  
\- Ollie… - Laurel started but Oliver shook his head.  
\- In some twisted way it was also the best day of my life, because it made me see that for some unknown reason, despite everything I’d done to you, you still wanted me. You still loved me, you still thought of me ad the love of your life. And, Laur, I don’t deserve you… -  
She tried to talk again but he stopped her.  
\- I don’t deserve you. But I want you. I want you and I love you so much. – He said and then slid down on one knee and looked up at her. – I know that maybe today it’s not the right day, that there are so many bad memories tied to it. But Laurel we’ve been good so far, we’re making this work. And… Dinah Laurel Lance, will you marry me? –  
Laurel looked at him with wide eyes for a few seconds. Then she smiled. The most beautiful and soft smile he’s ever seen on her face.  
She kneeled in front of him so they were at eye level.  
\- Of course I want to marry you. – She said kissing him. – And I am the one who gets to decide who to love, I’m the one who gets to decide who deserves me. And I want this life, I want you, I love you. So you deserve me, got it? –  
He nodded sliding the engagement ring on her finger.  
\- I get it. – He said. Then he hugged her close, holding tight, because he never wanted to let her go. – I love you. –  
\- I love you too. - 

Later they settled in bed. Oliver fell asleep reassured by her breath on his skin. He knew that he wouldn’t have anymore nightmares that nigh because Laurel was warm and real and alive in his arms. The dream of his life with Felicity now was just a nightmare. Something that would never come true, cause his Laurel had survived and he had the life he had always dreamed.


End file.
